


Out of the Black

by clarkegrff (fayevsessays)



Category: Cuffs (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5337419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fayevsessays/pseuds/clarkegrff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's never a dull moment on the job. (Glimpses into the day to day shifts of South Sussex Police)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Kept writing little drabbles here and there just exploring some of the characters. Ended up with this.

*

He’s just logged in and opened the right program when he’s interrupted. “You’re on early.” 

Jake looks up from the computer to see Lino and Donna walking in. He’d heard them both responding to a call about half an hour ago and then notifying force control that it had been dealt with. Lino unzips his stab vest and drapes it over the back of one of the free chairs. 

“Yeah, uh, I have to finish typing something up on NICHE. Thought I’d get it done before Ryan came in.”

“Eager.” Donna jokes. “Ryan’s on the delayed start tonight.”

Jake knows. The duty sergeant gave him the heads up when he arrived about an hour ago, along with the offer to pair him up with someone if he wanted to get out sooner. Until he’s passed his fourteen weeks and achieved independent patrol, he can’t really go out without another officer. 

Not that the idea of facing Brighton on a Friday night is any more appealing without Ryan. Night shifts are always fun. 

“What’re you writing up then?” Lino asks, leaning over the desk while his computer starts up.

“Trying to finish my duty statement and the crime report. Ryan’s done most of it but he asked if I could sort it all out into a case file.” He says the last part with some hesitancy and it makes Lino look over at Donna. 

“Have you ever put together a case file on your own?” Donna comes back around to start behind Lino, passing him a bottle of water and ignoring the sigh he gives her over the choice. 

Jake taps the pen in his hand against his pocket notebook. “Bits and pieces but-”

“We’ll give you a hand.” Donna offers. Lino looks up at her, confused until she nudges him. 

Lino smiles. “Old pros at all of this.”

Their partnership is one that Jake still hasn’t figured out yet but he’s envious of the way they’re mostly always on the same page. Personalities and attitudes to the job aside. 

Jake smiles, gratefully. “Thanks but-”

“But what?” Lino asks. 

Jake leans back in his chair. “What’s the catch?”

Lino puts his hand to his heart. “What’s the catch? I can’t believe you’d think we weren’t doing this out of the goodness of our hearts.”

Jake tilts his head and gives them both a knowing smile. 

Lino gestures, in shock while Donna laughs. “We might need a shift covered in the future.” She grins, honestly. “Might as well get those favours in now.”

Jake laughs but lets them both pull up their chairs to the side of his desk. “Thanks. I’ll owe you one.”

Donna opens up his duty statement draft and points out a couple of things he needs to change, details to add, to make sure that the work is solid.

It’s an assault that they’d been called to late yesterday after court had closed for the day. The guy had chucked a bottle at someone in the same bar and caused a deep cut over his eye. They’d gotten there to find him sitting on the ground, utterly intoxicated and unable to give a statement. Ryan had driven them all back to the nick and booked him in for the night. An officer had gotten his statement and it was somewhere on the system. Jake just needs to-

“Print that and get Sarge to sign it.” Lino points to one of the documents. “The only other thing you need to print is your duty statement after you’ve linked them. Just to make sure if anyone looks for it, they’ll find it.”

Ryan’s is already written up there.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to this.” Donna says. “Just pretend you still need help and then Ryan can’t palm his work off on you.”

Jake grins and sends the work to the printer. “But you’ll know.”

Donna is quick to nod. “Oh yeah. You’ll be the rookie on response until someone else comes in.”

“I don’t suppose you remember when you were the rookie.” Jake teases Donna as she walks to gather his work from the printer.

Lino lets out a unashamed bark of laughter. “Cheeky.” 

Donna waves his reports in front of him. “I can easily take these over to the shredder you know?”

Jake begs forgiveness but Donna plays along. “Funnily enough I-” She tosses Jake’s case file down with a little force. “-am not ancient. As much as Lino makes me out to be.”

He hasn’t asked a lot about his block yet. Still trying to find his feet and get along with Ryan more than anything. They’re making progress, swapping relationship stories and really, once you reach ‘my cheating boyfriend’/’my dead wife’ stage, how much further can they go?

“When did you join?” He asks curiously. “Both together or?”

Lino shakes his head. “I was a late bloomer.” He pushes his chair back around his side of the desk. Donna makes a comment about still waiting for him to flower and he flushes. “Oi, no- I applied once I’d finished college but I didn’t get in. Waited a few more years and then got in. I was, I was- 25? End of this year I’ll have done five years in.”

He scratches his beard and ponders if it really had been that long. 

Donna gives Jake a pointed look and then tilts her head in Lino’s direction. Jake, clears his throat, and says: “Really? You don’t look thirty.”

Lino’s face brightens. “Aw thanks ma-” Before his genuine happiness deflates when he spots Jake looking for Donna’s approval for the compliment. “-you know what, I am a spring chicken.”

Donna rolls her eyes. “Caught, stuffed and ready to be roasted.”

Lino points his pen at her. “I’m younger than you.” He reminds her. 

Jake smiles as they bicker back and forth until Donna comes back to answer his question. “I joined straight out of Uni. 21. Did my first two years with Neighbourhood in Gatwick, moved to Response as soon as I could just to get behind the wheel-”

“So you’re a speed freak then?” Jake asks, remembering Ryan’s categories.

Donna catches on. “Stayed there until I could transfer down here, which was about six years ago.”

“Any reason for the move?” Jake asks. He misses the freedom of working away from home offered though he knows that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. 

Donna takes out her pocket notebook and takes out her earpiece. “My girlfriend got a promotion and the commute was a bitch.” She pauses just to gage his reaction (brief surprise but only because Ryan hadn’t mentioned it to him and Donna wasn’t one to talk). “Brighton keeps everything interesting.”

Lino holds up ten fingers and then one before Donna notices. “I’m two years older than you.” 

“Eleven years on the job?” Jake can’t help but sound impressed. “I knew PSCO’s that quit after two.”

Donna shrugs. “I won’t touch that PSCO comment but once you get stuck into this job, really start committing to it, you realize there’s nothing you’d rather be doing.”

Jake’s seen the look in her eyes before. It’s the look his dad used to have back before he was promoted and started sitting behind a desk in lieu of going out on patrol. Jake can start to see it in himself. The small excitement every time he puts on the uniform, the eagerness to get going when someone shouts up on the radio- Ryan rolls his eyes but they both feel that surge of adrenaline when they’re gunning down the seafront with the blues blazing.

“The big fat pension is just a bonus-” Lino adds with a smirk. 

There’s no lie there but it brings the conversation to a natural close as Jake finishes up his work. Lino pulls up something regarding a warrant for a breach of bail while Donna finishes writing up in her pocket notebook.

They stick by his desk, pointing him in the right direction of who he needs to sign it, and they’re waiting for him when he gets back.

Donna twirls her keys in her hand. “I’m only on until ten but Lino has a few things to wrap up. I’ve got an arrest warrant for breach of bail, if you’re up for it?”

Lino gives his blessing with a wave of his hand and Jake grabs his high viz jacket. “Let’s go.”

*


	2. Chapter 2

*

‘D’ Block’s briefing had warned them about the probability that town was going to be heaving for the next few nights thanks to club nights aligning with the end of the term for most schools and universities. 

Jo had hoped that it would have just meant an increase in fights, drunk and disorderly behaviour and drug dealing.

Was that really too much to ask?

The blue lights from the cars continue to flash behind her despite the sirens being switched off. The ambulance is covering the scene from a lot of the crowd that continues to try and walk over her scene- Jesus,

“Hey!” Jo shouts at a girl that had lifted the police tape recently placed to cut off access. 

PC Draper steps in and pushes the tape down, giving a stern word to the girl who clearly hadn’t seen the complete and utter mess she was about to walk into. 

Jo turns away and returns to Carl’s side. “You’d think people would notice the bloody lights and stop-”

Carl chuckles, always one to keep it light even in the most dire circumstances. “You’d be surprised what people are able to avoid by keeping their heads down.”

Jo scoffs but they both fall silent as paramedics start to cover the body. They’d been slow to the scene to start with thanks to the crowded streets and an accident that had forced them to divert. But people wouldn’t think of that. They’d just remember that they were too late to get there.

And those that were there-

Misha is stood off to the side with Donna being checked over. First responder on the scene after a scared student had run into her and screamed that ‘her friend was getting stabbed!’ until Misha was running with her.

No visuals on the attacker. Just a body twitching and bleeding out on the floor. Bouncers had their hands covering any wounds they could see, Misha diving in to help while shouting up on the radio for an ambulance. 

They hadn’t turned up to a live victim.

Jo’s priority was scene management. Identifying witnesses and taking down their details with the help of the officers nearby. Not just for information but to rule out that the attacker hadn’t come back to see the results of their work.

“His name is Sean Galloway.” 

Jo is startled suddenly at the appearance of Jake on her right. She settles herself quickly. “What did he have on him?”

“Driver’s license. He was here with a couple of friends. Celebrating finishing their exams yesterday.” Jake relays the information in short, snapped sentences.

She’d take it personally if she wasn’t 100% sure that he has no idea that she’s slept with his father. Jake is still new to the job and the violent realities of it and still needs coaching through it from time to time.

“Anything else?”

“Lighter. His wallet.”

“Cash inside?”

“Some tens and fives.” He says. 

That casts doubt on any thoughts of it being a mugging gone wrong. 

“The girl that got Misha- Her name’s Rebecca-” Jake refers to his pocket notebook. “Says he went outside to smoke. When he didn’t come back she went to look for him.”

His attacker had chosen it well. The street was poorly lit and away from the main road, used mostly as a shortcut to the centre of town. Sean had probably walked down to get away from the noise, out of sight of the club’s bouncers, when he was attacked. 

Violent. Quick. Six entry wounds. 

“Have you got all their details?” Jo asks, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the silence and with Jake standing so close next to her.

“Yeah.” He nods. “Anything else you need?”

Jo shakes her head. “Keep the crowds back, please.”

She moves away, around the blood stained pavement, to where Misha is. Donna has helped her to wipe her hands clean as much as she can. There can’t have been much time to put on gloves in that situation. 

“You alright?” Jo asks. 

Misha nods. Donna stands by her side. Jo remembers when they used to do the walking patrol together, when Misha was still new to the force. Now Misha knows these streets better than anyone. 

“I’m going to take her back to the station. Get her cleaned up.” Donna says.

Jo nods. “Can you let DI Kane know that we have this covered. No need for him to come down.” With a pause she adds. “The Chief as well.”

“Of course.” Donna parts the crowd and takes Misha back to her vehicle. 

Paramedics have finished moving the body and she can see Carl ushering in the first of the crime scene guys into the perimeter. 

It’s going to be a long night.

 

*


	3. Chapter 3

*

“Oh no.” Lino groans and closes his pocket note book. It’s too late to deflect though as both Donna and Misha look up from where they’re updating the incident log for one of their morning cases.

“What’s up?” Donna asks. She stands up straight, keeping her hand on the back of Misha’s chair.

Lino covers his book. “CPS wants a photocopy of my notebook for that vehicle search we did last month.”

Donna shrugs, she remembers the case. Couple of lads got pulled for speeding and forgot to ditch the cannabis they were storing in the glove compartment. “And?”

“And-” Lino opens his notebook to the page where he’d scribbled down the lad’s names and addresses. “I don’t think a doodle of a penis is going to add volume to the case.”

In his haste to get through all of their details, he remembers handing his book over to one of them in order to correctly spell his name. He’d just forgot to check up on it after. First offence got them all a warning but now one of them was facing a different charge and a court was going to see this-

Lino sighs.

Misha frowns. “Is that really-”

Donna shakes her head. “It’s simplified. I don’t think he had time to get to the details-”

Lino slams his book down. “Thank you for the sympathy, ladies. Really appreciated.”

Donna and Misha look at each other and try not to laugh. 

Why is it always him?

 

*


	4. Chapter 4

*

 

Lino beams but he’s hyper aware that his shirt is riding up at the back underneath his jacket and he accidentally notched his belt one more than he should've and Donna is taking an awful long time locking up her car.

“Alice.” The smile gets wider, if possible, as if he’s trying to make this okay.

“Lino.” Alice has a hand on the door and a skeptical look on her face at the sight of him. She looks over his shoulder and sees Donna shutting the boot. “Twice in one week.”

Lino shrugs. “You know I can’t resist a home cooked meal.”

Alice’s lip curls into an amused smile and she backs off to the side to let him pass. “I’ll follow you through.”

“Evening to you too.” Lino steps into the house and walks carefully down the hall. 

He goes through to the living room and places his bag on the floor, out of the way so no one accidentally falls over it. He’s been round to Donna’s a few times and to be honest, he kind of loves it. 

Everything is decorated nicely. It always smells good with whatever candles or food that are around. Tidy and parent free. It’s one of the main reasons why Lino doesn’t get why Donna isn’t more eager to get home sometimes. Being married to the job is one thing but-

“Oh, yeah-” Lino sticks his head back out into the hall, every intention to mention that he’s brought back the dish Alice gave him last time with leftovers in it (to Donna’s frown), but he shuts up when he spots the two of them still in the doorway.

Donna still has her bag slung over her shoulder, catching on the edge of the bomber jacket she’s got on and pulling the simple chain necklace to the side. Alice reaches up to fix it. Making sure it sits in the middle of her chest. 

“I could get used to you coming home on time.” Alice says. 

There’s teasing to it but Donna purses her lips like she’s waiting for the follow up to whatever argument she expects. 

“Didn’t feel up to running.” Donna gives an excuse and Alice scoffs. 

The noise has Donna dropping her bag and alarm bells ring in Lino’s head until Alice takes hold of her wrist. “Hey.” She rubs her thumb against her pulse. “I’m glad you’re home.”

He sticks around for another second, just smiling out of sight, but then Donna gets this look on her face that she rarely has at work; all sap and softness and-

Oh, kissing-

Lino ducks back into the living room, scratching the back of his head. There’s definitely something he could be doing right now while they- do that. He grabs the dish from his bag and heads to the kitchen.

There’s a thud in the hallway.

Sounds like they could be a while. 

*


End file.
